The damage control efforts are in full-throated roar as we speak, no efforts are spared to shield
- President Idiot-on-Vacation-Eating-Cake-and-Playing-Guitar and his
- crony appointees at DHS (Reading Newspapers for Critical Disaster Mitigatin),
- FEMA (Applying Essential Horse Show Judging Criteria to Disaster Management),
- Secretary of Shoe Shopping,
- Secretary of Baseball Games,
- Vice President of Home Buying
From the Responsibility for their abysmal, blundering Failure to respond to a predicatable natural disaster, infrastructural collapse, and subsequent preventable human tragedy in and around New Orleans.
How does it work?
Like this:
Blamiing the Mayor
Blaming State and Local Officials
Blaming Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Blaming those who "Chose to stay"
More blame for those who "chose to stay"
Blaming the unexpected - "No one thought the Levees would break"
Blaming looters and violence (easily interpreted not-so-sub-text is blaming blacks)
And so on...
Now, what is the response?
Easy, easy, easy!!
What is the CHAIN OF COMMAND?
What were the governmental efforts prior to the landfall and the subsequent collapse of infrastructure, order, chain of command, and communications?
August 26 or 27, PDF - Kathleen Blanco declares a state of emergency
August 26, Bush declares a State of Emergency
August 27, PDF - Blanco requests Federal Assistance
All the rest of the story - who was briefed when, who went where when, who ordered what when, and so on and so forth is IRRELEVANT!!!
I repeat: ONCE THE STATE OF EMERGENCY WAS DECLARED AT BOTH THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVELS, AND ONCE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE WAS REQUESTED, ALL OTHER DETAILS REGARDING AUTHORITY OR COMMAND OR RESPONSIBILITY ARE IRRELEVANT!!!
Why?
Because according to the NRP - The National Response Plan as of December 2004
The Emergency was, as of the moment that Bush declared an Emergency,
"ALL PRESIDENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES UNDER THE STAFFORD ACT ARE CONSIDERED INCIDENTS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE." (NRP, 7)
An Incident of National Significance is an actual or potential high-impact event that requires a coordinated and effective response by and appropriate combination of Federal, State, local, tribal, nongovernmental, and/or private-sector entities in order to save lives and minimize damage, and provide the basis for long-term community recovery and mitigation activities.
The details of the NRP are outlined in georgia10's diary, by Larry Johnson, and by several others...
That's all, that's it, that's a WRAP, folks.
Once that Emergency was declared by BUSH, by the FEDERAL government, ALL RESPONSIBILITY for coordination, communication, relief, rescue, and organization of ANY and ALL operations in the disaster zone are the ultimate responsibility of the FEDERAL government - FEMA, DHS, and the President.
Any number of complete fuckups - failure to allow relief to stranded people, failure to evacuate emergency shelters, hospitals, failure to mount recovery and rescue operations, failure to activate the military, failure to utilize the Bataan, failure to allow Firefighters, EMT, Hazmat Teams, Search and Rescue Teams, failure to stabilize the levees and curb the flooding, failure to keep order, and on and on and on and on...
ALL of it was the responsibility of DHS/FEMA, and ALL of it ultimately falls on the shoulders of the CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
PERIOD.